American Eagle (schooner)

The American Eagle, originally Andrew and Rosalie, is a two-masted schooner serving the tourist trade out of Rockland, Maine. Launched in 1930 at Gloucester, Massachusetts, she was the last auxiliary schooner (powered by both sail and engine) to be built in that port, and one of Gloucester's last sail-powered fishing vessels. A National Historic Landmark, she is also the oldest known surviving vessel of the type, which was supplanted not long afterward by modern trawlers.HistoryAndrew and Rosalie was built in 1930 by the United Sail Loft Company in Gloucester, for Patrick Murphy, a local fishing master, and was named for his children. The ship was used in fishing operations by his family until 1941, when it was sold to the Empire Fish Company, who renamed her American Eagle. They converted her for use as a trawler, a role she served, mainly under the ownership of the Piscitello brothers, until 1983.She was purchased in 1984 by John Foss, who had recently restored the Lewis R. French (also a National Historic Landmark), and was restored at the North Port Shipyard at Rockland, Maine. Foss rebuilt her for the cruise ship trade, and she now spends summers cruising Penobscot Bay in Maine on 3-7 day cruises, though she generally takes one longer cruise per year to places like Grand Manan Island in Canada. She is one of the few schooners in Maine that go on longer cruises, and one of the few that go offshore looking for whales. She also generally returns to Gloucester every year.